HOUSE PLANS for Beginners. Part 1

The Essential Guide to Choosing, Financing, and Building a Custom Home with House Plans

WHITEPAPER

2. BENEFITS OF READY-TO-BUILD PLANS Why pre-drawn house plans are a great choice when it comes to building and can save you money compared to starting from scratch

3. FINDING THE RIGHT PLAN What to consider when selecting your dream home (and why this needs to come early in the process)

4. HOW TO READ A FLOOR PLAN

5. PLAN MODIFICATIONS Making a plan yours

6. COST-TO-BUILD Learn about Cost to Build reports and how to ensure you pick a plan that you can afford to build

7. KEY PLAYERS IN THE PROCESS Who’s who, from your builder to sub-contractors

8. CAN THIS PLAN BE BUILT IN MY AREA? What you need to know about local building codes

9. HOME BUILDING CHECKLIST Important steps to take when building your home

10. TIMELINE Get a rough idea of how long it takes to build your home from start to finish

11. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

12. TESTIMONIALS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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A ready-made plan saves you time and money. While a custom archi-

tect or designer may charge as much as $30,000 (or more!) for a full set of working drawings to design the home of your choice, you can most likely get everything you’re dreaming of in a ready-to-build plan for less than $2,000. Many of our plans have been built and photographed by our skilled and trusted architects and home designers.

When working with a ready-made house plan, final cost estimates are

more accurate because details, such as generating a materials list, are already taken into account. Savvy customers dedicate most of their budget towards high-quality building materials and home amenities, instead of losing the bulk of their budget to engage an expensive architect to design, re-design, and prepare working drawings for contractor bids—only to learn that the cost of building the house exceeds their budget (who has time for that?).

Want changes? Our modifications department can customize your

plans to better suit your needs. With the expertise of Hanley Wood’s design special-ists, you can get a full spectrum of design change options. They range from enlarging or reducing the total square footage of a plan to changing a roof line or foundation type (more about that later).

Most house plans cost $2,000 or less, roughly the same price as a refrigerator.

Benefits of Ready-to-Build Plans

Building a home can be an exciting, yet complicated, process. Unfortunately, there’s no magical wand to wave and make a brand-new home appear, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, armed with the right information, building your new home could be one the most rewarding projects you’ll ever undertake.

With helpful advice on everything from selecting a home plan to your final walk-through, this guide will help you end up with your dream house—instead of a headache (no thanks!).

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Finding the Right Plan

Choosing the right plan to build can be both exciting and overwhelming at the same time. With thousands of plans to choose from, it’s hard to narrow it down to JUST ONE. There are many questions to ask yourself when building a home—How will you and your family use your home? Will it fit your lifestyle? These effective ways to choose the best plan for your home will help you in the process.

• Budget: Meet with your local contractor and determine your budget. Once you decide what you can and can’t afford, you can go from there. You never know, you may able to afford a bigger home than you thought!

• Find a Plan that You Love: You can narrow

your search results to a certain architectural

style or plans that have specific features.

With so many plans, it is usually necessary

to filter the search results. If you find a great

exterior and a different floor plan, give us a

call and we will look at modifying one of the

plans to include the features of the other.

• Choose a House Plan That Suits Your

Land: Choose a plan that fits the character-

istics of your land. It’s better (and cheaper)

to make the house fit the land rather than

try to make the land fit the house. Also, the

size and shape of your lot affects the type

of home you can build on it. We carry plans

for sloping lots, narrow lots, waterfront

lots… you name it.

• Check Building Codes: Each state, city,

and subdivision may have their own set of

codes and regulations, with some requiring

engineering, stamping, or even re-drawing

of plans before approval. Very important:

consult with your local builder officials to

find out which regulations apply before

beginning your project. If you need to

make changes to your plan to meet local

codes, our modifications department may

be able to help.

• Outdoor Options: If you and your family

love (or dislike) spending time outside then

plan your space accordingly. Be sure to look

at which outdoor living spaces the floor plan

provides and take that into consideration

(our modifications department can always

help add or take away these areas as well).

• Number of Stories: Perhaps climbing

stairs doesn’t bother you now, but will it

in the future? You’ll save money down the

road if you consider which features you’ll

want in your home in the long run.

• Lifestyle: Do you entertain often (do prefer formal rooms or more open, casual spaces)? Do you have pets? Do you have children or plan on having children in the future? Is cooking something you love to do? Are you an empty nester? Do you work from home and need an office space? All of these questions will help you determine what kind of floor plan (open, small, big, one-story, two-story, outdoor living, etc.) will be the best fit for your lifestyle.

• Blueprints Can Be Changed: Almost everyone who buys stock blueprints

changes them. Try to find something close to what you want and make changes to suit your needs. Common changes include doing a mirror reversal of the plan, moving walls, changing the location of the garage door (to make the garage a side garage or a front garage), and changing the size of the garage (such as expanding a 2-car garage into a 3-car garage). You can also usually add features to a home. For example, most home plans can have a fireplace added.

• Exteriors Are Easy To Change: Some people will only look at a house if they like its appearance. However, usually the house’s exterior can easily be changed. The changes to an exterior can be so dramatic that you won’t realize you are looking at the same house. To change the exterior, you can use different windows, modify rooflines, and change exterior details. Don’t judge a home by its appearance. It’s the inside that really counts. After all, you’ll spend far more time inside the home than out front.

• Be Open Minded: It’s important to be open-minded when looking at houses. By doing this, you’ll learn things you never realized. Over time, your “ideal” home will evolve and change. Don’t quickly discard houses. You will have a better understand-ing of what you want by taking a close look at many house design.

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How to Read a Floor Plan

The floor plans (also known as house plans, house blueprints or house blue prints)—and all of the other drawings in a plan set—are drawn to scale, often one-quarter or one-eighth of an inch, meaning every one-quarter or one-eighth of an inch on the blueprints equals one foot in actual size. The simplest method for translating scale measures into their actual size is to measure them a scale or ruler, which will indicate the conversion directly on the ruler. Alternately, you can figure the conversion in your head. On plans drawn to a one-quarter of an inch scale, for instance, two inches equal eight feet of true space. Each page of the drawings should be labeled to indicate what size scale the architect or home designer used when drafting the plans.

A short straight line linked to a short curving line typically stands for a swinging door. The kitchen, toilets, bathrooms sinks, and some furniture will be shown on a blueprint. The words “up” or “down” will indicate stairways (with arrows) and what direction the stair is going. Thick, solid lines are used to indicate full-height walls, while thin, solid lines indicate other built-in structures, such as cabinets, bookshelves, or plumbing fixtures. Thin, dotted lines indicate over-head features, such as wall cabinets in a kitchen or a special ceiling treatment or an archway in the living room.i

Look for these symbols on floor plans or blueprints:

Some common abbreviations that appear on floor plans are:

• K.S.—Knee Space

• Pan.—Pantry

• W.I.C.—Walk in Closet

• FPL—Fireplace

• W. D.—Washer/Dryer

• Surf. Unit—Surface Unit

• D.W.—Dishwasher

• Ref.—Refrigerator

• VLT—Vaulted Ceiling

• Pdr.—Powder Room

With a little practice the secret language of architectural plans will become clear and you will be able to read a floor plan in no time!

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Plan Modifications

REDLINING FOR VERY MINOR CHANGESFastest and easiest!

• Very minor changes requiring only notes /drawings added to plan, great for communicating design intent with your builder, accepted by most building depts.

• Examples include: changing exterior materials, adding/removing windows or doors, moving interior non-bearing walls

• Cost: $100–$200 + cost of plan

SMALL CHANGES • Minor changes affecting components but not footprint or house size.

• Examples: flipping two rooms around and keeping existing dimensions, changing garage to side entry, changing exterior walls from 2x4 to 2x6

• Cost: $500–$1000 + cost of plan

MEDIUM-SIZED CHANGES• Changes affecting rooms and layouts but not footprint or actual

house size.

• Examples: small garage expansion, enlarging/shrinking existing rooms, changing roof pitch

• Cost: $1100–$1900 + cost of plan

MAJOR CHANGES• Significant plan changes affecting more than 350 square feet

and/or house footprint.

• Examples: changing house footprint, adding new rooms, reconfiguring room locations

• Cost: $2000 and up + cost of plan

1. Select a plan. You don’t have to make a purchase at this time, though you certainly can and may want to in order to get the process rolling with your builder. On the web page with the plan details, simply click on the “Modify This Plan” button and fill out the brief form that asks about the changes you want to make. One of our plan advisors will reach out to you via email to discuss the process and provide more detail about the service. This is a great time to send any sketches you might have to show the changes that you want.

2. Our design team will review your plan changes to determine if they’re major (such as adding square footage or adjusting the rooflines) or minor (like adding a window or moving a door) and to ensure that the changes are possible. After we have reviewed your changes, we will send you an estimate (or request for clarification) within one to two business days. This email will go over the costs to customize as well as the timeframe for completion.

3. After you review and approve your estimate to make changes, it’s time to order your plan and start the process. We will prepare a service contract for you to review and sign. Once we receive the signed agreement, a project manager will be assigned to work on your plans. You will be working directly with the project manager throughout the course of the service.

4. We will send proofs as your changes are being worked on to ensure that your needs are being met. The customized plan will be completed in four to six weeks, depending on how many passes it takes to satisfy your changes.

5. Once the service has concluded you’ll receive your final plans in PDF or printed format, depending on which option you selected. When your plans have been finished you can start your local planning, which may include code updates, engineering (civil or structural), and site preparation.

A modification is a change in the architectural plan of the house. Depending on the scope of the changes, edits can be made to the existing plan or the plan may need to be redrawn. Our in-house experts and designers can assist you with these edits. Just make sure your plan meets local building code requirements.

How much do modifications cost? This is a popular question with potential buyers. Since each plan is different and each modi-fication request is unique, it is hard to give a price without knowing which plan you like and the changes you want to make to it. We can tell you the average cost of modifications (in addition to the cost of the plan set, which will have to be a modifiable version such as a PDF or CAD file) is between $900–$1500.

Consultations to get estimates for the changes that you want are free for most plans! (A few designers do charge small fees to provide estimates, but you’ll receive the money back as a credit toward the plan modifications if you go forward with the changes.)

Most modifications can be done by simply adjusting the existing plans. Other modifications require a more comprehensive re-design of the home. Let’s look at the different types of modifications and their costs:

Customizing your home plan has never been easier. Once you decide which plan is right for you, follow these five steps outlined below:

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Cost-to-Build

How much will this home cost to build? That is the million-dollar question (and hopefully the answer isn’t a million dollars if that’s above your budget!). House construction costs are dependent on where the home is being built, the level of finish (tile, trim, win-dow quality, etc…) and the site. We provide a “cost-to-build” estimate using the same software that many insurance companies and appraisers use.

Each estimate is made to order for the house plan, construction quality, and postal code you choose.

Once you have a specific plan selected, click on the “cost-to-build” button to get

an estimate for that plan. You’ll be asked a few quick questions about your building preferences and location, and then you can check out online. It’s easy! You can also place your order over the phone and ask any related questions you may have: 1.800.528.8070.

These reports are typically emailed within 2–3 business days of the order being placed. It is very important to understand that the quality of construction you choose can make the resultant report vary sig-nificantly. It is essential to check out the assumptions we make for the level of qual-ity you choose when preparing your report.

Please note, these items are not included in a Cost-to-Build Report:

• Site preparation of any kind

• Removal of existing structures

• Purchase of the lot

• Preparation of the lot

• Flatwork (such as driveways)

• Detached garages or other structures

• Landscaping

• Modifications/customizations to the house plan

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Key Players in the Process

ARCHITECT/DESIGNERIf you select a ready-made plan then the architect/designer’s work has already been done. Many of the architects and designers (note that you don’t have to be a licensed architect to create a house plan) that we work with have been in the business for decades and have created hundreds of house plans that have been built all over the country.

GENERAL CONTRACTORS/BUILDERSYour general contractor, or builder, is the single most important person in the process. They are the point person for all construction at the site, coordinating schedules and (hopefully) keeping the project moving on time. Depending on the size of the building company you work with, there may be a site superintendent who is in charge of your project.

SUB-CONTRACTORSSub contractors, or subs, are specialists who will work on particular elements of your proj-ect under the direction of the general contractor (or builder). Examples include electricians, plumbers, framers, and painters.

INTERIOR DESIGNERSAn interior designer, while not necessary to the home-building process, can help you make the most of your space once you move in. Get them involved early and they can help you plan for how you will use the different rooms before the builder gets started.

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Can This Plan Be Built in My Area?

Each state, city, and subdivision often has their own set of codes and regulations that they have determined will work best for the area. In areas that are coastal, have high wind, or other dynamic forces of nature, you may need to take the plans to a local architect or engineer to determine if additional items need to be added. Prior to applying for a building permit or starting construction, we strongly advise that you consult your local building officials to verify what you will need to get your building permit.

Your plan may need to be modified (you may want to consider our modification service) to comply with local requirements regarding snow loads, energy codes, soil and seismic conditions and a wide range of other factors. In addition, you may need to obtain permits or inspections from local government agencies before and while in construction.

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Home Building Checklist

Determine your budget

Purchase land for your home

Select a home plan to build (be sure to plan for your site)

Check building codes

Financing

Find a contractor/builder

Start the building process

Final inspection

Final walk through

MOVE IN!

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Timeline

The specific time frame for each home-building process can vary widely depending on the size of your home, the size of your builder, and even the weather. This general outline provides a look at the procession of tasks involved in most projects.

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WEEKS 1–4Site work, excavation, foundation

WEEKS 30–32Plumbing, heating, and

electrical trim; appliances

WEEKS 34–36Cleanup, landscaping,

and final inspection

WEEKS 4–6Rough framing

WEEKS 16–17Rough HVAC

WEEKS 13–14Roofing

WEEKS 27–28Interior paint

WEEKS 9–10Rough plumbing

WEEKS 19–20Exterior paint

WEEKS 11–12Rough electrical

WEEKS 22–25Interior wall finishing

WEEK 7Windows and exterior doors

WEEK 18Insulation

WEEK 21Flooring and underlayment

WEEK 15Exterior siding

WEEK 33Carpeting

WEEK 29Countertops, vinyl

and tile floors

WEEK 26Interior trim and doors

WEEK 27Cabinetry

WEEK 8Decking and

sheathing

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Questions and Answers

1. How much will this house cost to build? House construction costs are dependent on where the house is built, the level of finish and the site. We can provide a “cost to build” report for a good starting point. If you’re ready to move forward, purchasing a plan set lets you obtain bids from builders (some plans have a non-build-able “study set” option that is made for obtaining bids) for even more precise estimates.

2. How is the square footage calculated? The square footage of a home is based on heated living space only. Typically this includes any finished basement area. It does not include the garage, any porches, bonus space, or unfinished basements.

3. How many sets of plans do I need to buy to build my house? You should keep a full set for your records plus enough sets for your builder and contractors, lending institution, and building department. A quick trip to your local building department or to their website will tell you how many copies they will need. Contractors and subcontractors will all need copies of the plan to create a bid. It is increasingly popular to buy the electronic “PDF” version of plans because you can take or send the file to your local print shop whenever you need another copy.

4. What is a materials list and what does it include? A materials list is a list of building supplies needed to construct the infrastructure of your new house and includes items such as lumber, insulation, rafters, concrete, and hardware. However, it usually doesn’t include hardware for lighting, heating, electrical, or plumbing. Many of our house plans have a materials list available from the original designer or architect. If a materials list is available, it can be selected during the order process under “Additional Options.”

5. Are your plans ready to submit to my building department for permitting? Every county is different. Our plans contain enough information to build a home, but they may not include all of the information that your local authority requires. Prior to application for a building permit or the start of actual construction, we strongly advise that you consult your local building official to verify what you will need to submit for your building permit.

6. What do I need to know about architectural and engineering seals? Some cities and states are now requiring that a licensed

architect or engineer review and “seal” a blueprint, or officially approve it prior to construction due to concerns over energy costs, safety, and other factors. Prior to application for a building permit or the start of actual construction, we strongly advise that you consult your local building official who can tell you if such a review is required.

7. What modifications can I make to a house plan? All stock house plans are modifiable. Some of the more commonly requested modifications are:

• Eliminating windows, fireplaces, false dormers, changing garages from a 2 to 3-car

• Reconfiguring kitchen cabinets & appliances

• Rearranging interior walls

• Changing ceiling heights

• Changing exterior surfaces (brick, siding, stucco)

• Changing exterior wall framing (2x4 to 2x6)

• Changing a foundation type

• Changing a roof pitch

• Relocating garage door openings/adding or eliminating bays, changing garages entry location

• Adding or eliminating a room (this would involve changes to all aspects of a plan—elevations, floor plans, roof, foundation & sections)

• Stretching or reducing the square footage of a plan, adding a bonus room

Most modifications can be done by simply adjusting the existing plans. Other modifications require a more comprehensive re-design of the home. Modifications may cost $1,000 or more but represent a huge savings over creating a new plan from scratch.

8. How much does it cost to modify/customize my plan? Once you’ve purchased your home plans and returned the customization checklist, our experts will determine the complexity of the work and send you an accurate cost estimate for your review. Due to the variances between home plans and specific modifications, we cannot provide general pricing guides. Typical modifications can range from $900–$1500 (based on your specific needs, your quote may be higher or lower than the average). For more information, refer to page 5 above.

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Testimonials

“ I have been in the interior design field since 2001 and branched out in the Real Estate field in 2009. I had the pleasure of working with 2 contractors on a new spec home and one contractor (Chris) said check out houseplans.com and write down a few homes that really pop out to you, so I did. He also checked out the site and wrote down his picks. Well one house was on both of our lists and we are almost completed with the home. What we had done is that we bought the AutoCAD and had the contractors architect make a few changes. Matt that I had worked with at House Plans has been great and he is fascinated with our progress of the home.”

– Christine, New York

“Thought you might like to see the house we built after modifying plan number 411-592 with the help of Houseplans.com. It is quite a revelation for those living in Oklahoma, but we thought it fit our ranch perfectly. We certainly could highly recommend houseplans.com for anyone’s new home build. We had hired two architects prior to finding houseplans.com, and your company came through for us.”

– Doris, Oklahoma

“Our builder said the plans were rock solid. We love the house, the geothermal heat and the fireplaces make it cozy. We’ve already entertained there a few times. We have over 1000 photos of the home under various stages of construction, but I didn’t want to overwhelm you! We are very happy with the plans and we know we will be happy in this home for the rest of our lives.”

– Dan, Kentucky

For more details on interpreting blueprint symbols, see:i Roche, James. “How to Read Floor Plans.” October 9, 2014, https://www.houseplans.com/blog/how-to-read-a-floor-plan.

Reviews include customers from the Hanley Wood network of plan sites, which includes builderhouseplans.com, dreamhomesource.com, eplans.com, floorplans.com, homeplans.com, and houseplans.com.

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